Stone-drilling machine



JOSEPHUS ECHOLS, OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA. I

STONE-DRILLING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 14,495, dated March 25, 1856,

To all whom it may concern.'

i Be it known that I, JosEPHUs EcHoLs, of Columbus, in the county ofMuscogee and` State of Georgia, have invent-ed a new and useful Machinefor Drilling Stone by Water-Power; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1, is a side elevation of the machine.Fig. 2, is a vertical section at right angles to Fig. 1, in the planeindicated by the line a', y. Fig. 3, is a plan of one of the cylinderheads a, a', which are shown in section in Fig. 1. Fig. t, is a plan ofthe valve for opening and closing the apertures in the cylinder heads,and Fig. 5, is a side view of the same. Fig. 6, is a plan of the gripperby' which the drill bar is lifted, and Fig. 7 is a side view of thesame.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre-l sponding parts in theseveral figures.

A, is a hollow metal cylinder with a noz- Zle on one side to connect ahose or other pipe to supply water to the cylinder from any suitablehead. This cylinder is fitted with heads a, a', having eac-h a series ofapertures c, c, arranged in a circle described from the aXis of thecylinder and having each a central orilice to receive the hollow stem d,of a valve D, which has annular faces at the top and bottom to closeeither the apertures c, c, of the lower head a', or those of the upperhead a, according as it is elevated or depressed, leaving either theapertures of the upper or those of the lower head open for the escape ofwater.

B, is a tube working freely through the hollow stem of the valve andhaving cups g, g', at its upper and lower ends, the former cup beinginverted. Into one or other of these cups the streams of water escapingat the apertures c, o, are injected with sutlicient force either to liftthe tube 0r drive it down.

E, is the drill bar which is fitted so as to be capable of workingfreely through the tube B, but is furnished with a gripper F, which byresting on the top of the tube B, enables the bar to be lifted by anupward movement of the tube. It also works in a guide Gr, above, saidguide being adjustable by having its supports z', z', made to slide insuitable holes in the side lugs j, j, of the cylinder and secured bybinding screws.

To illustrate the action of the water in operating the drill bar I willsuppose the cylinder to be 'supported in a proper fixed position foroperation and the valve D, to be in a position the reverse of that shownin Fig. 2, closing the apertures c, c, in the bottom of they cylinderand leaving open those in the top for the water to be injected with' theforce due to the head on the pipe, into the cup g, which lifts thegripper F, and drill bar until a spring t, which is coiled around thelower part of the tube b, and rests on the bottom of the cup, comes incontact with t-he valve D, and lifts it to the position shown in Fig. 4,thereby closing the apertures c, c, in the top of the cylinder andopening those in the bottom and causing the water to escape through theapertures in the bottom of the cylinder into the cup g, thereby causingthe tube B, to be driven downward. The drill bar descends with thedownward motion of the tube and with it the gripper F, which, whenarrested by a ring H, attached to the cylinder is made to release thedrill bar which continues its movement and by that means the force dueto its fall aided by the action of the water in the cup g', drives thedrill forcibly into the stone. The tube B, continues to descend afterthe drill has been released until the valve D, is driven down again bythe cup g, acting through a spring 71 onI the upper end of the valvestem and closing the apertures in the bottom of the cylinder and openingthose at the top for the water to act on the cup g, to raise the drillagain. Before the tube B, has completed its descent, the gripper hasagain gripped the drill bar to be in readiness to raise it, when thetube B, ascends.

The springs h, L, are only employed to prevent injury by the percussiveaction of the tube B, in striking the valve, and springs Z, Z, areapplied to the valve also to prevent violent slamming. These lattersprings are placed in annular recesses in the valve, the said recesseshaving lateral openings m, m, for the escape of water and prevention ofobstructio-n to the closing of the valve. The valve when closing eitherset of apertures is kept tight in its place by the pressure of thecolumn of water in or upon the pipe which supplies the cylinder.

rIhe gripper Gr, is constructed in the following manner. The upper partconsists of a steel plate spring with an aperture n, for

the bar to slide freely through and to the ends of this are attached thetwo jaws 0, 0, which, by the elasticity of the upper part are made tobite upon the bar, but when the two ends are driven or fall violentlyinto contact with the ring I-l, the momentum of the central portioncauses the spring to bend in such a manner that the jaws release thebar. This is illustrated in Fig. 7, where the gripper is shown in slackoutline in the condition in which it grips the bar and in red outline inthe condition it assumes at the moment of striking the ring. When themomentum of the gripper has expended itself, it assumes its originalcondition and grips the bar again but this time it grips it higher up orfarther back as the drill feeds itself after its release by the gripper,and the gripper resumes its action always in a fixed position, that is,while resting on the fixed ring.

The turning of the drill is effected by the action of the water on oneor more spiral vanes or screw threads 72,719, within the upper head Gr.

The cylinder is supported by a framing composed of side rods g, g,passing through the lugs of the cylinder and a transverse rod passingthrough a lug in front of the cylinder. These rods are supported inbearings in sliding sockets t, t, secured to four lugs u, u. The severalparts of this framing are all adjustable and binding screws v, 1), areapplied to the several lugs and sliding sockets to secure theadjustment. This adjustable frame enables the machine to be used indifiicult positions. The drill Vmay be driven by the action of the wateras herein described in any position whatever.

I will observe that disks or nearly iiat surfaces might be substitutedfor the cups g, g', but it is preferable to employ cups as they preventthe dispersion of the water.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The cylinder A, with the apertures e, o, in its heads the doublevalve D, with its hollow stem d, and the tube B, with its cups g, g',all combined, arranged and operating substantially as herein set forth.

2. The gripper F, constructed as described and operating in combinationwith a ring H, as herein set forth, to grip and let go the drill bar.

3. Furnishing the interior of one of the metal cups g, g, with spiralvanes to be acted upon by the water, for the purpose of turning the barat every stroke, substantially as herein set forth JOSEPHUS ECHOLS.

Vitnesses:

A. F. BRANNAN, JN0. J. MGKENDREE.

